Software:Gregory Horror Show (video game)

Gregory Horror Show
European box art
Developer(s)	Capcom Production Studio 3
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Director(s)	Eiro Shirahama
Producer(s)	Tatsuya Minami Kouji Nakajima
Designer(s)	Shino Okamura
Writer(s)	Naomi Iwata
Composer(s)	Hiroshi Nakajima Shinichi Hideoka Hidenori Miyanaga
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release	JP: 7 August 2003 EU: 15 December 2003
Genre(s)	Survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player

Gregory Horror Show, known in Japan as is a mystery, survival horror game based on the computer-generated imagery (CGI) anime series of the same name. The game was published by Capcom in Japan and Europe, but was not released in North America.

A screenshot of the game where a player is being chased

Gameplay

Players must navigate the hotel, retrieving the bottled souls which the hotel guests have been carrying. Neko Zombie, a heavily stitched cat who has become imprisoned in his room, introduces players to the control scheme and methods of spying on guests and stealing the souls back. Spying through keyholes allows players to eavesdrop useful information from guests, as well as scout ahead before plunging into a room and coming face-to-face with guests.

Guests will usually flee if they see the player character, while they still possess a bottled soul. Once the player has recovered the soul from that particular guest, instead of fleeing they will chase and attack the player, reclaiming the soul should the player still be holding it. The guests can all run faster than the player's character, making stealth an important aspect of play. It is possible to hide in wardrobes, but this must be achieved while any pursuing guests are out of sight.

As play progresses and souls are collected, more guests check-in the hotel and more hotel rooms and areas become available for exploration. This is in addition to the guests who have already been relieved of their soul bottles - these prowl the corridors of the hotel, looking for the player, making it increasingly difficult to travel from one location to another without being seen.

Plot

The game begins with the protagonist walking through a forest in a deep fog. They are stated to have no memory of how they ended up in the forest. Eventually a bright light appears in the fog coming from a hotel, Gregory House, which serves as the game's main setting. The player character enters the hotel and is greeted by Gregory, the mouse that runs the hotel. He asks the player what their name and gender is, before giving them a room in the hotel.

That night, after the player has fallen asleep, they meet Death in a dream. He tells the player that they have been trapped at Gregory House but that he is willing help them to escape. In return, he wants the player to find 12 lost souls which are kept by residents of Gregory House. Death makes the promise that, once he has received the 12 souls, he will help the player escape Gregory House

The player upon waking hears screaming from the neighbouring room, which is locked. The room's inhabitant, Neko Zombie, asks the player to get the key for the room by stealing it from Gregory. Once the player has done so they can enter the room to talk properly with Neko Zombie. Neko Zombie gives the player an explanation of various aspects of the game and once the tutorial is finished he gives them the game's first lost soul.

After this, the player is prompted to retrieve the souls from each guest as they come into the hotel. As the story progresses Gregory's mother is introduced explaining that she feeds on lost souls to retain her youth.

Once the player has retrieved every soul, Death prepares to fulfill his end of the bargain with the player and help them escape. However, the player declines, wanting to bring Neko Zombie with them to safety rather than abandoning them. Approaching Neko Zombie in their room Neko Zombie declines to leave while urging the player to hurry and escape. The player, before leaving, gives Neko Zombie a red handkerchief to tie over his foot which has been injured by the ball-and-chain used to imprison them.

Entering the lobby will reveal that the door is still locked leading to a boss battle with Gregory's mother. Though she can't be harmed directly the player is given the prompting to get her to break the door to the hotel down. Once this is done, the player is able to flee Gregory House. Gregory takes on a ghostly form and gives chase, but the player manages to escape him.

Back at Gregory House, Neko Zombie burns down the hotel, destroying it and killing everyone inside, notably including himself, Gregory, Gregory's mother and all of the guests.

The game's ending reveals that the hotel was in fact a creation of the player meant to serve as an escape for the struggles of reality. The player character then states that should they ever grow bored with life in reality they will find their way back to the hotel once again. Gregory house is then shown being reconstructed, and Gregory has a room prepared for the player when they return.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 75/100 Review scores Publication Score CVG 7/10 Edge 8/10 Eurogamer 7/10 Famitsu 32/40 GamesMaster 86% GamesTM 7/10 Jeuxvideo.com 14/20 OPM (UK) 8/10 Play 78% PSM3 70%

The game received "generally favourable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one nine, one eight, one seven, and one eight for a total of 32 out of 40.

PlayStation 2 Official Magazine – Spain gave it a score of 7.2 out of 10, saying that "The concept of the game is good in principle, although in the end it becomes repetitive." Eurogamer gave it a score of 7 out of 10, rewarding it's curiosity and experimentation compared to other Capcom titles but still acknowledging the small issues present in the game. A good portion of game reviewers admired the game's uniqueness but found the gameplay mechanics became stale after some time. It was also common that reviewers were unsure of what demographic the game was aimed at because of the blocky more cartoonish style and simplistic gameplay.

External links

• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers". This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months. The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing. A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school. Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information. In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount. This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign. A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art). Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel, and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million. The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager. Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface. This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue. Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.

See also

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions